Maximum Ride: Numb, Songfic Linkin Park
by Avenging Angels
Summary: Max has a dream where she discovers what would happen were she to not save the world. Song fic Numb: by Linkin Park. One-shot. Disclaimer I do not own Maximum Ride nor Linkin Park's song Numb


So, here is another song fic and I believe this one is much darker than my other one: 19 Years Partial Song fic I Hope You Dance. That one was meant to be sort of sad but uplifting, this one, is meant to show Max what would happen if she were to decide she didn't want to save the world or believed she couldn't.

The song is _Numb: by Linkin Park _and if you have the song playing in the back ground on repeat all the way through the story it should add to it. I read it while listening to the song it took playing through it about 4 1/2 times. Then last line of this story needs the end of the song (where the words stop and it's just the music playing) to get it's real effect so if you have to slow down to get it right don't hesitate.

I hope you guys enjoy!

_Maximum Ride: Ice Fire_

_Partial Songfic Numb _

_I'm tired of being what you want me to be, Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface…._

I knew that I was dreaming, somehow, I just knew. It wasn't that I was in some foreign land surrounded by zombies or fluffy unicorns (Angel's preferred dream world where she ruled as High Queen). No, it was more like I just had this conscious feeling of being asleep and knowing then that the grassy field in which I now stood was merely a figment of my imagination.

_Don't know what you're expecting of me, Put under the pressure, of walking in your shoes (Caught in the under tow, just caught in the under tow)…._

I lifted my hand, letting it skim over the surface of the grass which came up past my knees, the blades tickled my palm and waved in the warm breeze that swelled around me.

Looking upwards I covered my eyes with my other hand to block out the bright rays of the sun. The sky, was a cloudless, baby blue. Birds chirped in the woods surrounding the meadow and I saw new growth on the branches, maybe mid-spring.

In fact, everything here, from the brook that bubbled softly and ran through the heart of the meadow a few feet away to the grasses, trees, and even the sky, seemed to be bursting with life. Just another sign to me proving I was dreaming, back on earth, it was late November.

_Every step that I take is just another mistake to you (Caught in the under tow, just caught in the under tow)_

"Maximum." My eyes widened, and I turned, my face hardening as I took in the person standing at the edge of the woods; having recognized his voice the moment he said my name. But no sooner than did my eyes light upon him and I open my mouth to deliver a sarcastic greeting did the DreamWorld around us change.

The once green grass was replaced by barren, cracked dirt, the trees, wilted and hunched in on themselves, their bark blackening as the leaves fell to the ground, bursting into flames the second they touched it. The sky turned a blackish gray with angry black clouds raging back and forth, blocking out the sun until there was hardly any light at all besides the random patches of flames that now dotted the ground on my left and right, though in front and behind me remained clear, as if I was on some invisible path.

I listened for the sounds of wildlife but there was nothing. Nothing but a lone, gray feather floating down towards me. I reached out, ready to snatch it from the air, when a bone chilling breeze sprang up, lifting it spiraling into the air away from me, and right into Jeb's out stretched palms.

_I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, Become so tired, so ouch more aware, I'm becoming this, all I want to do, Is be more like me and be less like you_

"Maximum," Jeb said, and I hated the way my name sounded coming from him. It was so casual and forbidding. "What are you doing here, Jeb?" I asked, allowing venom to seep into my voice.

Jeb frowned at me and twirled the feather in his hands, studying me in a way that had me fighting not to shift or move away. Instead I glared at him, my hardened face, narrowed eyes and fighting stance saying everything I hadn't put into words…, yet.

_Can't you see that you're smothering me, Holding too tightly, afraid to lose control?_

"Max, we need to talk about what you're meant to be doing." My eyes narrowed further and my fists clenched. This was supposed to be _my_ dream, _not_ Jeb's. "I've got nothing to say to you. So beat it." I turned and began walking away from him towards the gruesome, charred trees, but stopped when I heard Jeb yell after me.

"What?" I asked, turning and glancing over my shoulder. Jeb was still standing where I had left him and I had to strain to hear his voice as he said, "Max you have to save the world."

"According to you!" I shouted back at him as I turned away again.

_Cause everything that you thought I would be, Has fallen apart right in front of you (Caught in the under tow, just caught in the under tow)_

"Max this is bigger than the two of us! This is the world!" Jeb began walking towards me and I tensed turning back to face him, my eyes widening. As Jeb neared the halfway point between us flames erupted out of the ground in a horizontal line running like a rope straight across the field, cutting us off.

"Max you have to stop this!" Jeb yelled, covering his face against the heat of the flames which rose to chest height, crackling and spitting as they twirled together, an angry shade of blazing orange and blue.

I stared at the flames, then, at Jeb who was searching with his eyes for a way through. But as a small gap appeared my fist clenched and the flames rose higher in that exact spot, barring Jeb from me once more.

"You see what I mean?" he yelled, his eyes wide and hands still blocking his face. My jaw tightened and the sky around us turned completely black until the small fires around us were the only source of light.They waved and twirled, casting shadows all around me. I smirked and my eyes sparked as I looked at Jeb's bewildered face.

"Max!"

_Every step that I take is another mistake to you (Caught in the under tow, just caught in the under tow)_

I snapped open my wings and saw the light of the flames swirl faster, growing stronger until it looked as if they might burst as I prepared to hit the air, having had more than enough of Jeb.

_And every second I waste is more than I can take_

"Max think of your family!" Jeb shouted, stumbling backwards as the flames leapt toward him. I froze, my eyes wide and slowly lowered my wings before tucking them in along my spine, watching as the flames lowered and then lowered still as I relaxed my fingers until it disappeared all together, the line of flames vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared.

Jeb stumbled to his feet, his white lab coat bathed in ash and soot, his eyes widening as he looked around before finally his gaze fell on me once more.

_I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, Become so tired, so much more aware, I'm becoming this, all I want to do, Is be more like me and be less like you_

"Max please, listen to me." I refused to look at Jeb, my eyes glued to the cracked earth. "Max listen to me. You were designed to save the world. You-."

"Designed!" I spat, my head snapping up and my eyes blazing as I glared at him.

Jeb bit his lip and this time wouldn't meet my eyes.

A breeze sprang up between us, blowing ash and dust into the air. The smell of fire and decay lingered on it and I closed my eyes, feeling the flames writhing around me, seeing the vivid colors and hearing the crackle of the flames. But then the vision changed, and instead of being simply surrounded by the flames I was seeing through them, seeing everything it touched, feeling everything it touched.

I, was the fire.

And as I watched I was no longer in the field with Jeb, but somewhere else, a city. I saw people running, screaming, rolling on the ground as the flames engulfed them, burning them and smothering them as black smoke hung over the city like a blanket.

No, I thought, my heart racing but I couldn't stop, couldn't turn away. I was the flames, and they were me. Destroying everything they came into contact with, everything they touched. Buildings, trees, cars, people. The flames writhed and spread like a tidal wave prepared to drown out the world.

"Max!" I turned and saw the Flock standing behind me in the after math. Fang was in front with Iggy on his right and Angel on his left. Nudge stood beside Angel and Gazzy next to Iggy. All of their wings were out and their faces were covered with soot. Their clothes were charred and ragged, eyes tired and bodies shaking.

"Max no! Don't do this!" Fang shouted, his voice hoarse. I stared at them, confusion clouding my mind, then my eyes widened as the flames leapt out and shot around them, surrounding them in a wall of red and orange, closing in on them as they bunched together, eyes wide with fear.

"Max you have to stop this!" Angel screamed, her blue eyes pleading as Fang pulled her and Nudge to him and Iggy grabbed Gazzy. The flames closed within feet of them but I couldn't stop and as Fang's eyes locked with my own, black on brown, they were engulfed.

"No!" I shouted, my eyes snapping open as I fell to my knees in the field once more, my heart racing in my chest and my breath sawing in and out of my throat. For a moment I could still see the flames, still see them as they consumed my Flock, see the fear in their eyes and horror on their faces. And knowing I'd caused it. I'd, killed them.

"Max."

I looked up slowly, and my eyes widened before I leapt to my feet and wrapped my arms around Fang, his arms pulling me closer as I pressed my face against his chest before cupping his face in my hands and kissing him.

"I thought you were dead." I said, leaning back and looking at him in wonder. Fang half smiled at me and said, "No."

"We have to get out of here. Where are the others?" I asked, looking over his shoulder, expecting to see them there. But when I didn't see them I looked back up at Fang's face only to see that he was staring at me, his dark eyes blank.

"Fang?"

"Max how could you? How could you give in like that?" Fang let go of me and pushed back. My arms dropped to my sides and I stared at him in confusion. "What?"

"Max you can't ever give in. Don't you understand?"

"Fang what are you talking about? We have to leave here. Where are the others?"

But Fang just shook his head. "You don't understand, they're dead, I'm dead." My eyes narrowed and I said, "But you're here." Fang's mouth lifted on one side and he reached forward, his fingers ready to brush across my face but where they should have touched I felt only an icy chill, not the warmth of his touch.

"I'm not real. I'm not here."

"No," I whispered, feeling tears pricking at my eyes. I tried to grab Fang's arm but my fingers slid through him like he was a ghost.

_And I know I may end up failing too, But I know you were just like me, With someone disappointed in you_

"Max you gave up. You let them win. You didn't do what you were destined to do. You let the world go up in flames because you were afraid to do what you knew was right."

"I didn't-." but Fang raised his hand and my mouth fumbled shut. "You didn't." Fang agreed. "And that's why we died, all of us."

Fang nodded over my shoulder and I turned seeing the rest of the Flock standing in a line behind me, their faces blank as they started at me. "Iggy? Nudge, Gazzy, Angel?" They didn't move, didn't speak, merely stared at me. I looked back at Fang but realized that I could barely see him now, like he was just a mirage.

"You know what you have to do Max. If you don't, the world will be destroyed and us along with it." Jeb walked forward now, looking like a ghost just like Fang, and handed me the gray feather he'd caught before. I took it in my fingers gently and feeling someone's eyes on me turned only to see a young boy standing beside Fang, looking up at me with my eyes in Fang's face.

I knew instantly who he was, and my heart broke as I realized he was a ghost too.

"No," I whispered once more.

_I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, Become so tired, so much more aware, I'm becoming this, all I want to do, Is be more like me and be less like you_

"Save the world Max. It's your destiny," they said, their mouths moving at the same time as their voices melded together. My eyes widened as a tear fell down my cheek before evaporating as it hit the scorched earth. Then, slowly, the Flock began to fade.

"Wait! Don't leave me here!" I cried, stumbling forward, seeing Fang's eyes and those of my son lingering on me before they disappeared too, leaving me alone in the desolate field.

"No, no, no." I whimpered, my voice hollow as I fell to my knees, my hands shaking and tears falling from my eyes. "Why?" I cried, my vision blurred from the tears. "Why?"

I could feel my heart breaking, feel the pain taking over. My body felt weak, my skin cold, my heart beat, slowing. "Why?" My voice grew lower until no words could be heard. _Why…._

_I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, I'm tired of being what you want me to be, I've become so numb, I can't feel you there, I'm tired of being what you want me to be…._

"No!" I sat up straight, my heart racing in my chest and my eyes looking around wildly. I blinked, my hands clenched into fists and my breath sounding loud and harsh in the dark. "Max?" My head snapped up and my eyes widened as they adjusted and I made out the figure kneeling beside me, hand outstretched towards me.

"Fang," I sighed, my body shaking against his palm as he pressed his hand to my face. "Max are you okay?" he asked, dark eyes narrowed as he looked at me worriedly. I let out a low breath and closed my eyes savoring the feel of his hand on my face before nodding slightly.

Fang sat down beside me, pressing his shoulder against my side comfortingly, his eyes boring into my own as he asked, "What happened? Did you have a bad dream?"

I nodded, looking about the cave where I saw the rest of the Flock still asleep, curled up in their sleeping bags.

Fang followed my gaze then tilted my head back towards him so that he could see my face. "That must have been some nightmare." I nodded, not trusting my voice to speak yet, and Fang wrapped his arms around me. "You know I'll always be here right?" I swallowed, my dream coming back to me, his ghostly face and blank eyes haunting me and I shivered.

"Max?" Fang pulled back to look at me, worry clear on his face. I closed my eyes shut tight and he took my face in his hands. "Max please." I waited a moment then opened my eyes slowly. Fang frowned as he saw the single tear in my eye and he wiped it away with his finger before pulling me back to him. "It's okay Max it was just a dream."

_No, _I thought, _it wasn't. I was meant to have it as wake up call. _

"Max are you okay?"

I swallowed, then nodded and said, "Yes, it was just, so real." Fang frowned, and leaned down pressing his lips to my forehead before pressing his forehead to my own. "It's over now."

_No, it's not. _I wanted to say but didn't. Fang didn't need to know what I saw. It wasn't meant for him. It was meant for me. To show me what would happen if I didn't save the world. If I turned my back on everything I knew. If I sat back and left the world alone. If I left it to burn.

I would lose everything.

"Are you okay?" Fang asked and I looked up into his worried face, forcing my self to nod. Fang nodded slowly and leaned back as I stood up. I could feel his eyes on me as I moved past the fire which had burned down a while ago and out to the ledge of the cave where I stood, feeling the soft moon light bathe my skin and taking in the cool night sky.

"It's beautiful," I whispered, feeling Fang come up and stand behind me. I turned and saw him looking at me in confusion. "Max?"

I smiled and reached out taking his hand and feeling the warmth of his skin. "I know what I have to do." I said, and Fang cocked his head at me. "What?"

Leaning forward I pressed my lips to his and he closed eyes before opening them a moment later as I pulled back. My eyes locked with is own as I said, "I'm going to save the world."

_I'm going to be what I was born to be…._

**Please R&R I hope you liked it and don't forget to check out my other stories if you haven't already. Btw this was a one shot.**


End file.
